The crisis in Pakistan
International Airline (PIA) continue as the airlines grounded 10 planes after
inordinate delay in arrival of all flights carrying pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.
Travelers suffered and their relatives anxiously waited for long hours at
airports throughout Pakistan. The crisis seems deepening as two each of Boeing
747 and Airbuses A-310, five Boeing's 737 and one ATR was grounded at the hanger
in Karachi because an international company failed to make available their
spares. This state of affairs is a substantial evidence of the financial crisis
that persists for a decade and now making the condition worse. The airline lost
Rs4.4 billion in 2005; Rs12.8 billion in 2006 and Rs13.6 billion in 2007 while
the losses tripled in 2008 when it ended up with a whopping net loss of Rs35.8
billion. PIA becomes is now one of the eight airlines of the world functioning
with costs higher than returns. Corruption, mismanagement and over-staffing are
said to be the reason for losses. In 2007, PIA had 18,231 employees, which makes
434 employees per air craft. The average ratio of the industry around the world
is a maximum of 170 employees per air craft and 70 personnel for one aircraft is
considered ideal. The crisis also saw several protest campaigns and the one in
February this year more than 500 domestic and international flights were
cancelled in one week that led to the airline losing another Rs2 billion of
revenue. It was because of the unending predicament that the Cabinet Committee
on Restructuring of Public Sector Enterprises asked the PIA management to come
up with concrete and practical suggestions for revamping and reorganizing the
national airlines. The national flag carrier told the committee that PIA was not
getting its share of budget since 2009. Everyone knows that PIA needs a
turnaround, it is equally difficult for a giant like PIA, now employing some
18,000 people, to shun losses. What is really ailing PIA is that its top
management failed in having right leadership, qualified staff, merit based
hiring, right direction for a business, better technology, service quality and
good public image. These are the main areas which need serious and immediate
attention particularly when the airline is already at the brinks of a disaster
and has of late been outsourcing its operation to several other airlines around
the world. The management has issued routine public relation stuff to media on
refurbishing of grounded planes and the people hardly believe in its veracity
because many questions arise on PIA’s performance and no-one has given
satisfactory answer so far. If the government is serious in bailing out PIA to
make it a profit earning enterprise, it will have to investigate as to why is
the airline overpopulated in human power and still doing badly; why have
political and PIA authorities recruited more staff even when losses were on the
rise; why were efforts not made to maintain a rationale in employee per air
craft ratio; and why has the government been overlooking PIA in budget
allocations for years. No doubt that revival of PIA to the past glory is
imperative, answering all the pertinent questions is also vital at the same
time.